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Hello! Newer to Paleo and loving it

05-07-2013, 02:46 PM

Short version of my story:
Was overweight most of my adult life, with the worst being after infertility then 2 pregnancies within 3.5 years. My weight was pretty out of control, and i knew for my kids sake I had to do something to change that.

I found Spark People and used it to log my calories and workouts, and over the course of 4 years did manage to lose close to 50lbs, but no matter what I did after that:
-playing with calorie range, cycling from day to day, increasing with increased workouts
-balancing my carb/protein/fat intake
-watching sodium levels and limiting fat
the scale came to a screeching halt. Didn't matter that I was very active, and did not eat "bad" foods (fried, fast food, etc.) I was the queen of lowfat foods.

In desperation, I did a "cleanse" type diet to get the scale moving again. While I HATED every minute of it (way too many restrictions, not a lot of variation for 30 days) I DID drop my last bit of weight, about 20 lbs, in 2 months. What really stuck out to me though was: My stomach aches were gone. My energy levels were UP. I had lost that gross bloated feeling that I seemed to experience often. Best of all? Even though I was training for a half marathon, my arthritic knees hurt NOT AT ALL.

This really clued me in to the fact that I have a gluten sensitivity. My SIL told me that her arthritis improved dramatically when she knocked out gluten and dairy. I took that info to the internet, and was introduced to Paleo eating.

I really, really love it. I feel like I can eat the foods I like, just modified, and overall I have improved my eating dramatically: It is a RARE thing to eat anything processed anymore. I feel so much better eating foods in their natural state.

Not to say I don't veer off into crazy land as far as food goes. i DO still have a major sweet tooth, and from time to time find myself reaching for the fruits way more than the veggies, so I have to really watch that (and am currently up 10 lbs from my goal weight) but I'm so happy I found this way of eating. Best of all? It seems to be getting more & more popular with other people in the circles I run in. It's always great to have that support!

Comment

Welcome! It's done wonders for me too (been Primal since Feb. 2012). I noticed on a recent Whole 30 (no wine and chocolate were my main adjustments) that fruit for dessert satisfied what is probably a natural, healthy desire for sweetness in the diet, and is better than frequently reaching for the chocolate, even the 88% dark that I like. But I try to have it with meals so as not to get onto the blood sugar rollercoaster.